Night of Champions 2014

Night of Champions 2014 Review


I'm sorry this one has taken me longer to upload than usual but I've now finally got a chance to watch it. This is WWE's attempt to get everyone to keep subscribing to the Network so there's a good chance that this'll be a good show. Was it? Let's find out.




The Usos vs The Brotherhood of Dust
The Tag Titles are on the line. The Usos have been delivering great opening matches for the past couple of months so it was a safe bet to have them start things off here. This rivalry has been slightly intriguing especially with the recent heel turn of the Dust Brothers. A heel Goldust is an excellent Goldust. Cody impressed here as he seems to be comfortable in yet another entertaining heel role. I liked the fact that Jey worked on Stardust's leg as payback for his leg injury. This was a fun opener that built up to some exciting nearfalls and both teams ended up flying all over the damn place. Both teams impress as the night starts of greatly. ***1/2



Sheamus vs Cesaro
The US Title is on the line. Oh hell yeah this is the one I've been looking forward to the most. This one was just about the sleeper hit of the night back at Payback so I was excited when it was announced for this show. These guys bring out the best in each other just by being the absolute shit out of the other guy which I love to bits. Cesaro countering all of Sheamus's signature moves was awesome as it shows how well these guys know each other. This was better than their previous match and their back and forth counters towards the end had me marking out until it got to the point where it was unclear who would come out the winner. A fantastic match that stole the show and I would love to see a rematch at Hell in a Cell. Excellent work from both athletes. ****



Out come multi- platinum recording artists Florida Georgia Line for commentary for some reason. I have never heard of these guys outside of the WWE.



Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz
The IC Title is on the line. Damien Mizdow and R-Ziggler join their appropriate partners at ringside. I had high hopes for this one after their great Summerslam match and the fact that they've shown chemistry together, but this one wasn't nearly as good. It didn't help that the commentary focused almost solely on Georgia Line. Felt like a WCW show in that respect. Plus Miz winning the IC Title back seemed like a strange decision especially since Dolph just won the Title back on Raw making this bout a bit pointless. The match started getting good towards the end with some nearfalls though so it was pretty solid overall I'd say. **1/2




Seth Rollins comes out to award himself the match via countout since Roman Reigns can't appear due to emergency surgery. Fans are already chanting for Dean Ambrose as they know he's going to be here. Rollins issues a challenge to anyone in the back and sure enough here comes Mr Ambrose to a huge pop from the crowd. They have an incredible brawl through the crowd and the Authority comes out to ruin the fun. And he delivers an awesome flying elbow to all the security guards and the brawl continues. I smell a Cell match next month!

That was a ton of fun and I can't wait for the feud of the year to continue for as long as it needs to.




Mark Henry vs Rusev
I've been looking forward to this one as it has been pretty well built with Henry standing up to Rusev like the badass that he is CAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE DOES! Also loved Lillian's singing of the Star Spangled Banner and Henry crying to it was a sweet moment. This was a pretty dull match overall but the crowd was behind Henry so it had that going for it. Rusev did look dominant in victory too and even survived the World's Strongest Slam. Bland match. *1/4




Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho
This is one of the most thrown together feuds I've ever seen as it's obvious that both guys have nothing better going on and Orton's excuse for starting the feud was that it was Raw's Season Premiere. Great reason for a feud. But thankfully these are two great workers that know how to turn in a good performance. I loved Orton's facial expressions here as he was looking like the viper of old. Some of the young guys in the back need to start taking notes from these guys as they showed how to put on a great match with barely any story at all. The just built and built the match with the excitement level rising by the minute and it was hard to tell who was going to win. The RKO in mid-air was a great finish too. Great match. ***3/4



Paige vs AJ Lee vs Nikki Bella
The Divas Title is on the line. This is the only match I haven't looked forward to tonight and that's because Nikki Bella is never usually involved with anything good and I wish her feud with Brie would just end as the acting is just terrible. Nothing against Paige and AJ though as I could watch those two fight forever. I'm also fine with AJ winning the Title back since it means we'll get to see more of her Paige which is always a good thing. The match wasn't that bad but it wasn't anything that good either. It was just kind of there and it had no heat at all. *



Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
The WWE World Heavyweight Title is on the line. This has definitely been the most interesting match leading up to the event after Lesnar's dominant victory at Summerslam and it was hard to predict as some thought Cena would win, some thought Lesnar would win, and some thought Rollins would cash in and win. Well it ended up finishing with a DQ but it's fine with me as it means the feud will continue and that can only be a good thing. I loved the opening of the bout with Cena learning his lesson and blocking the German suplex and even hitting the AA very early and barely getting a one count. Lesnar quickly regained control and just dominated Cena for a while. It did seem a bit too much like the Summerslam much but Cena definitely got more offense in this time. It did get better towards the end with both guys trading signature moves up to the finish. A great match overall. ***3/4


After the match Seth Rollins gives Lesnar the Curb Stomp (I'm betting he'll live to regret that) but Cena stops him and sends him packing to the back. Lesnar hits the F5 and is the last man standing at the end of the night.


Now both Lesnar and Cena have something to prove as we head towards Hell in a Cell.



8.5/10. Another great show delivered by WWE here. We started off amazingly well with a fun tag opener that gave us new Champions, and Sheamus vs Cesaro stole the show with a hard hitting contest. It cooled down with Ziggler/Miz which was a good match with shitty commentary and outside shenanigans and we slowed down with a dull Henry/Rusev match. The brawl between Ambrose and Rollins was awesome and Orton vs Jericho gave us a surprisingly great contest. The divas were pretty bad but things picked up with the anticipated main event which delivered a great match. All in all a superb show and a nice follow up to the stellar Summerslam.